Deputy shoots, kills man during fight in Millard County

A man who police say led them on a chase in a stolen vehicle was shot and killed by a Millard County sheriff's deputy Monday night.

KANOSH, Millard County — A man who police say led them on a chase in a stolen vehicle was shot and killed by a Millard County sheriff's deputy Monday night.

Corey Dee Kanosh, 35, was fatally shot after reportedly running from deputies and later getting into some sort of altercation with them. Details about the moments leading up to the shooting, however, were still being investigated Tuesday.

Family members of Kanosh say his mother was the one who called police Monday night after her son had been drinking and took off in her car. Rick Pikyavit, Kanosh's cousin, said the hope was that deputies would simply stop Kanosh and arrest him or take the car away from him.

"It's just heart-wrenching for him to leave us like this. And hopefully we can get to the bottom of what happened," Pikyavit said Tuesday.

About 8:30 p.m. Monday, a deputy responded to a call that a vehicle was stolen from the Kanosh Paiute Indian Reservation. The vehicle was spotted just a short time later and a chase ensued, partially on paved roads and partly on rugged off-road areas in the foothills above the reservation.

The car Kanosh was driving got stuck in the foothills east of town and two men ran from the vehicle.

"They took the car up as far as they could," said Millard County Sheriff Robert Dekker.

A pursuing deputy used a Taser on Kanosh when both suspects refused to stop, investigators said.

Whether the Taser had any effect on the man or even hit him was unknown Tuesday. The sheriff's office said what happened next was Kanosh was fatally shot "following a physical altercation" with the deputy.

How the situation escalated from a chase to a shooting is something family members want to understand.

"That's where the conflict is coming in. What happened? Why'd he have to get shot? All it was, was him drinking and doing his thing," Pikavit said. "Getting shot for this, it's a tragedy. It hurts the whole family."

The Kanosh Paiute Indian Reservation has only about 50 residents. The reservation has an agreement with the sheriff's office for service on their land because it's reportedly too small for full-time coverage by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Tuesday, reservation representative Corrina Bow said she also wants answers about what happened.

"To me, I feel like an injustice was done," she said. "We would like a full investigation done."

The deputy involved in the shooting was also injured and was treated at a local hospital Monday night and later released, Dekker said. The nature and extent of the deputy's injuries were not immediately available.

The second man, Dana Harnes, 21, continued to run after the shooting occurred. Following an all-night search, he was arrested about 7 a.m. Tuesday in a vacant residence in the foothills outside of Kanosh. Dekker said investigators had information he was there and he surrendered without further incident.

The Utah Highway Patrol and the Utah County Sheriff's Office were among the agencies assisting Millard County. The shooting will be investigated by the Utah County Sheriff's Office.

Utah state court records show Kanosh has an extensive criminal history.

In 2009, he pleaded guilty to felony drug and weapons charges. He was sentenced to one to 15 years at the Utah State Prison. In 1999, he was sentenced to up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to an amended charge of attempted sexual abuse of a child. In a separate case the same year, he was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for convictions on felony burglary and aggravated assault.

Kanosh received another five-year sentence after being convicted of escaping from custody in 2000, according to court records. Many of the sentences ran concurrently with the others. In 1995, Kanosh was found guilty of felony burglary.

According to Utah State Prison records, Kanosh first arrived at the prison in October of 1999 and was paroled in 2005. He was sent back to prison on a new charge in April of 2009 and discharged about a year later.

Family members, however, say there was a different side to Kanosh. They said he was a traditional Native American dancer who was recognized by his peers across the nation.

"He was and is a great man. He's had problems, but you know, we all do," Pikyavit said.

Court records show Harnes pleaded guilty in February to two misdemeanor traffic offenses, including driving on a suspended or revoked license.

Popular Comments

So the family members consider him a good guy? He is a guy with multiple
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steals his moms car, runs from police, gets out of the car and runs from police,
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More..

Pat is a veteran police and courts reporter for the Deseret News and KSL and has covered some of the biggest stories in Utah for the past two decades. He is a graduate of Michigan State University with a BA in journalism.